The 11 year old boy depicted on the window is laying on the ground of
the Texas desert. Heat stroke and thirsty. His ill mother is back home
in Guatemala praying for his safe passage. He is on a journey with hopes
to provide money for his mother’s medicine. But he won’t get up. He
will pass to the other realm, the spirit world. His body won’t be found
for weeks. The Tierra Firme & Waterbound collaboration
explores the border, water, migration and border communities. Water jugs
are left on migration routes along the border. These water jugs are
often left with encouraging messages for the harsh journey migrants
often face. Unfortunately there are also Border Patrol agents and
private groups that sabotage these jugs by puncturing them,
contaminating the water or removing them because they don't feel these
people have the basic human right to access clean water. Many migrants
die from thirst or other problems from the conditions they face on their
journey. This installation is not only an homenaje (homage) to those who have lost their lives in search of a better one, but also an ofrenda (prayer/offering)
for other migrants safe passage. The hand-made net challenges the idea
of what borders are. The border divides but it also breaths and moves.
Many people, communities and cultures get tangled in that net to give
rise to something different. The Tierra Firme & Waterbound Collaboration is an attempt to understand the border and the broader cultural implications of the communities they affect.

_

Waterbound // Zeke Peña

Waterbound is and on-going transmedia project that explores the symbolic and actual role water plays in our border community. Water affects every aspect of our lives: naturally, practically, ritually/spiritually, and geopolitically.We need it to survive. The Rio Bravo/Grande is the primary source of life for our border community, it unites us. But unfortunately our border community has come to understand the river as something that divide us. The U.S. side and the Mexican side. Something that naturally brings us together is being used to divide us through the effects of militarization and commodification. www.zpvisual.com/waterboundTwitter/Instagram: @zpvisual

Tierra Firme// Analise Minjarez & Sarita Westrup

Tierra Firme is an experiential research project that revolves around the place and identity of artwork along the Texas-Mexico border. Fiber artists Analise
Minjarez and Sarita Westrup, utilize the net as a symbol for the sky
and stars shared between two countries. The tension necessary to create
the knots of a net comment on the social strain between people living on
separated land. In addition, the net although perceived as a barrier,
provides portholes to either side of the border.

Preview Oil and Cotton’s future space at 817 W. Davis Street and shop for handmade goods by local artists.

This
spring, we will relocate most of our programming and retail store
directly across the street to share space with Davis Street Espresso and
Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters. Our current location will become studios for
artists, a select group that will continue to host specialty Oil and
Cotton adult workshops as well as contribute to the evolution of our
thriving arts district.

Our
move will enable Oil and Cotton to revitalize its commitment to
outreach and smart-size its brick and mortar for sustainability in Oak
Cliff. The building owners and occupants, Shannon and Jenni Neffendorf,
are a family dedicated to their craft and our community. They have
created an exquisite space forOak Cliff Coffee Roasters,
and our adjacent location will be welcoming for all, full of beautiful
light, and inspiring with the charm inherent in its layers of history.

We
invite you to come celebrate with us this weekend. We will stage a
sneak preview pop-up shop for the holidays, hosting an excellent line-up
of vendors with unique gifts available from $5-$300.

Participating Vendors & Artists:

EsteMade

F is for Frank

Gina Garza

Girls Who Can

Initial K Studio

Jesse Bartlett

Jessica Sinks

June Covington

JustMcNeely

Kyle Hobratschk

Lilco Letterpress Studio

Matt Cusick

Mulcahy Farms

Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters

Oak Cliff Creperie

Of Mud & Coal

Randy Guthmiller

Texas Drawing Charcoal

The House of MacGregor

The Webb Gallery

Wool & Weave

Schedule of Events:

Friday, December 5

OPEN 6-10pm

Opening Party.
Enjoy a coffee or cocktail and get first dibs on our unique inventory
of handmade goods, vintage, and original art. Davis Street Espresso
will be crafting their famous hot beverages from 6-8pm.

Saturday, December 6

OPEN 10am-6pm

10-11am
Let the Kids Shop – Enjoy a cup next door while we help your kids shop
for you and wrap it up special. We’ll bring them back to you about two
feet taller.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Exhibition
by Jon Vogt and Abby Sherril at Raza Cosmica, an Oil and Cotton window gallery.

August 10 -
September 5, 2014

Closing Reception September 5th, 7:00pm

Jon Vogt and
Abby Sherrill, graduate students at the University of North Texas, collaborated
to produce color play, currently on view at Oil and Cotton through September
5th. Their window installation explores the interplay of color relationships
through formal abstraction and pattern. The relatable materials of tissue paper
and string are used in consideration of the active learning community of
artists young and old who participate at Oil and Cotton. Viewers are invited to
contemplate and interact with the piece from both outside and inside the space.
Light is an important part of the installation, as the visual interaction
created by layers of colored tissue paper is transformed according to the
position of the viewer and the time of day. A grid pattern is applied and
translated between each window display through use of materials to create
organizational clarity and movement. In contrast to the playful color of color
play, negative space and absent color reflects and celebrates the creative
potential of each viewer.

_

Greetings!

I would like
to introduce Raza Cosmica to the Oil and Cotton community. Raza Cosmica is a
window gallery devoted to collaborations between craft and fine art. Installations
this year will feature artists of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities.
Located both in the classroom and on W. 7th Street, artwork on display will aid
in the education of Oil and Cotton students and Oak Cliff visitors.

This Friday,
September 5th at 7 pm will be the closing reception of colorplay, an installation by Jon Vogt
and Abby Sherrill. Guests are invited to create their own color study inspired
by Josef Alber’s Homage to the Square.

To see more
works by Jon Vogt and Abby Sherrill, please visit their sites.

Monday, August 11, 2014

This fall Oil and Cotton is hosting Studio Swap-Meet for local artists to clean out their studios of unused and scrap materials for an evening of collective bartering, trading, swapping, haggling, replacement, and exchange. All disciplines and media are encouraged as the interchanging possibilities are endless! This is a free event designed to encourage openness and communication between local artists.

Sound installations, listening stations with headphones and pieces
broadcast intermittently throughout Oil and Cotton AND THEN I WHIRLED AT
THE SOUND OF includes local and international sound artists as well as
artists who work with sound in addition to other mediums

In conjunction with AND THEN I WHIRLED AT THE SOUND OF Oil and Cotton
is producing a sound art summer camp for youth, June 9 – June 13. Led by
Charles Underriner the camp will include sessions on Deep Listening by
Janeil Engelstad. Additionally, the youth will create a sound piece to
be included in the exhibition.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Adamson High School Visual Arts Exhibition 2014 will highlight the
outstanding accomplishments made by the students of Adamson High School
in the field of visual arts during the
2013-2014 school year. The exhibit is curated by its visual art
instructors, Erik Tosten and Laurie Gonzalez. This year the students
have been busy exploring a range of media, from collage to ceramic
sculpture, and their work demonstrates a diverse array of conceptual and
creative self-expression. Come out and be impressed with the students’
level of creativity and academic diligence. Join us to celebrate the
artistic achievements with the student of Adamson High School.